Heart and Home
by Xth Form Keyblader
Summary: It's time for Sora to head off on his request for the King. But, Kairi and Riku want to make sure that he remembers that his home is with them, no matter where he goes. Oneshot! KairixSoraxRiku friendship, and maybe SoraxKairi if squinting very hard.


_This is a oneshot taking place a little bit after the ending of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and mainly focuses on the events that takes place in Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts. This story is about Sora's conversations with Riku and Kairi before going off to fulfill the request in the King's letter. There is not many spoilers in here, although if you are a person who hasn't gotten around to playing Kingdom Hearts II, there will at least be some references in here that you might not understand. Just for information sake, this is a SoraxRikuxKairi friendship fanfic, although if one squints, you can see some traces of SoraxKairi in here, although that could also be perceived as just close friendship too. And now for the disclaimer:_

**Disclaimer:** Even though I own multiple games of the Kingdom Hearts series, I do not own the rights to these games. None of the characters in this fanfic are my own, nor is the technology or the locations. More so, I am writing this of my own free will, aiming for no means to gain monetary profit from it. Although nothing in the story is mine, however, copying and pasting my writing onto other sites is prohibited.

Anyways, please enjoy the fanfic!

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**Kingdom Hearts:** Heart and Home

The waves crash against the shore of the main island of Destiny Islands, hitting against the sand and the large structure that has been able to sustain the life of an awkwardly standing palm tree. Said palm tree was horizontally standing, bending from its root in the ground to almost create a ninety-degree angle. Because of this, it was a nice place to sit at. The view of ocean is calming and the ocean wind is always able to make the ever-present heat during the summer bearable. Of course, the thing is about this world is that it was so small… At least that's what he originally believed, the young male that is sitting on the tree. Even though his slim exterior wouldn't give it off, he is known as a master swordsman and has clashed many times with people. The young male stares at the ocean with the blue orbs just under his caramel-colored hair, a bottle and a piece of paper in his grasp.

He is thinking. Sora, that is. He has received the story of Ventus, Terra, and Aqua. And he also has heard one other thing: that he's the one that connect everything together. He's the glue that is keeping everything together, like King Mickey mentioned in the letter that he had in his hand. Because of this, he needs to head back out and try to reconnect everything all over again. It sounds like a long and arduous process, but Sora has decided: to go out into the worlds and finish the job assigned to him. Even though he doesn't exactly want to leave the peace and the tranquility of these islands, he has a huge sense of responsibility and he's not one to shirk away from responsibility, never have. So, while he sits around and waits for the said gummi ship to arrive and pick him up, he is also waiting for two other things: his friends.

"Sora!" a masculine voice rings out before Sora looks back to see a white-haired male. Unlike him, he is extremely muscular and seems to give off the aura of a tough fighter. But, to Sora, he is the same old stands at the side of the palm tree and looks over at Sora. He then says simply, "So, it's tonight, right?" Sora then silently responds with a simple nod. After all, one of the things that has been lingering in his head was whether Riku would come with him or not. Of course, this is something that the King requested for him and he was sure that Donald and Goofy were going to come and help, but Riku's presence fighting against the heartless would be good for the sake of old times. Yet again, Riku could be more useful on the islands, where the possibility of an attack from the heartless possible. After all, there has been no trace of Maleficent or Pete ever since The World That Never Was. Riku then continues on to say, "This world is a comfortable home. Nothing will happen to it."

Sora laughs a little bit before he says, "Coming from the guy who begged to get off of it."

"Like you're one to talk," Riku jabs in quickly before Sora puts a smile on his face. But, still though… This world always seemed to have some kind of home to him, yes, but it was more because he had nowhere else to go. This was the only place that he knew. It seemed to be small in the grand order of things. But, now since he's seen the grand order of things, he can look at his world and say without a doubt that he is happy for the safe environment that he lived in. In a way, Sora doesn't even really want to leave anymore. He has his friends here and good memories here.

'_When did this place get so comfortable, anyways? It hasn't changed at all,'_ Sora thinks to himself.

"So, anyways, better bask in the space you have now," Riku says, somewhat confidently. "That will be taken when you leave."

"By who?" Sora says with a confident grin on his face. "Wakka? Tidus? They can take it." He then hops off of the palm tree before he puts on a cocky grin. "They know who dominates the area, here. Anyways, about tomorrow-" Sora then looks past Riku tries to read the expression on Riku's face. But, Sora is dense. He can't read facial expressions well either and the confused look on Sora's face signals Riku let out a soft sigh in exasperation.

"You never change, huh, Sora?" Riku asks rhetorically, taking a slight jab at Sora's personality. Of course, Sora takes it in stride, as he is one to do that. "Even though she says that she will be fine and everything, you're still leaving." As soon as he hears this, he realizes what Riku is talking about and what he's going to do about the whole situation and smiles.

Sora hits Riku gently on the shoulder before he says, "Take good care of everyone and this world. I want a place to come home to, after all."

Riku's eyes open slightly before he smirks. "So, you can read in between the lines a little bit," he says, prompting Sora to make a slightly sour face, although it is more of an animated face than a truly sour one. "For anyone, home is where they belong. It's the most important place for us." Sora blinks a couple of times, somewhat confused as to his best friend's speech. Meanwhile, Riku lets out a small laugh and crosses his arms. _'Back then, I forgot that… And casted it away, I guess,'_ he thinks to himself somewhat somberly.

"_Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!_"

"_The darkness will destroy you! Really… Well, we'll just see about that!"_

As Riku's head begins to be filled with the night that began everything, all the way up to the present, he says, "We shouldn't cast it away."

"Even though you try to act tough, you're a real softy," Sora jabs at Riku, who lets out a sigh before he begins to walk off. Riku then notices that Kairi has just come out to the pier and is heading towards Riku and Sora. Kairi is somewhat surprised to see Riku there, but simply smiles at her friend and proceeds to say, 'Hi' to him. He then walks to a nearby door, leading to the stairs, which is the only other possible way to get down from where they are other than taking a leap from somewhere onto the sand below. Knowing the two of them would like their alone time, he simply stands at the door and begins to notice the sparkle of light in the sky. He knows that gummi ship is coming soon.

Kairi blinks a couple of times before he hears Sora call out, "Kairi!" Sora then proceeds to walk over to Kairi before she puts on a smile and walks to meet him in the middle of the pier.

---

"So, the King's gummi ship is coming…" Kairi says to Sora, mostly checking with him to make sure that she has the right information. She then glances towards the sky and notices that the gummi ship is coming closer and closer to them, as Sora glances up as well and lets out a small sigh, remembering what Riku just told him.

"Yeah, my mom still won't believe me, though," Sora says with an indifferent face, somewhat showing his confusion about the whole situation. After all, if what Riku is saying is true, then Kairi is really conflicted about the whole situation and probably wouldn't want to be reminded about something like this. He then puts a smile on his face and says, "Hey, remember before? You, Riku, and me used to sit here and talk about all of what we wanted to do once we got out there. To the other worlds."

Kairi then nods in agreement. "Yeah, although it was more like you and Riku, Sora," Kairi corrects Sora, putting a smile on her face as well. "I remember how much you talked about how small this world was… How much you two wanted to get out and everything."

Sora nods in agreement, albeit sadly. After all, he probably reminded Kairi about the situation by trying to avoid it. _'Nice job, Sora,'_ he thinks to himself.

The gummi ship has come into a point, where the thing is hovering over the sand of the island near the water, landing right below them and within Kairi's plane of sight. As it tries to clear for landing, Kairi continues to look at it with an indifferent face. Maybe it is simply because she wants to smile and yet cry at the same time… Sora then tries to think of something else to talk about, as the gummi ship still needs to land, and then remembers something: the drawings in the Secret Place. Good! Now, he's found a topic for him to talk about. "And I remember when we were younger, before all of this world stuff blew over, we used to draw in the Secret Place and everything…"

Kairi puts a smile on her face, suddenly being overcome with nostalgia. "Yeah," she agrees, "but my drawing was so much better than yours, though." She then laughs a little bit before Sora rolls his rather comically. That response just leads Kairi to let out a little bit more of a laugh before she remembers the additions to said drawing in the Secret Place. She remembers coming back that one day and seeing that someone, Sora, had drawn a star just beneath her face and has drawn it almost as if Sora had given it to her. A star? No, that was just the two-dimensional drawing of a paopu fruit. She remembers having tears in her eyes as she looked at it. Although, she's not sure exactly what the reason why as of yet. Maybe she was just upset that he and Riku were gone and that there was no real sign of them coming back anytime soon. Or maybe what Selphie was saying had some merit. She then smiles at Sora and says, "A lot has happened…"

Sora then nods his head and as he remembers a lot of what has happened over the past couple of years, he can't refrain from having a wide smile on his face. "I will definitely come back, Kairi," he says with assertiveness. He then takes out a sheet of paper from his pocket, a paper that is so used to being folded over that there are creases all over the paper itself. He then takes it out and flashes it to Kairi before he simply says, "One sky, one destiny, right? No matter where I go or how separated you, me, and Riku are, we'll always meet again."

Kairi then nods in agreement. "That's because we all look at the same sky. We're connected. In the past, the present, and the future… We'll always be connected to one another," she adds. "So, I'll wait for you to come back, because this is your home. It's the home that you, Riku, and everyone else protected." Sora then nods as he notices Riku is walking back to where they are. He must have noticed that the gummi ship has rested on the island and is now waiting for him. Kairi then grabs Sora in a hug, something similar to that to which the girl gave him in The World That Never Was, and Sora, blushing a little bit, returns the hug gently. "Please be safe," she whispers to him.

"Yeah," Sora responds lightly. "It's a promise." Kairi then breaks the hug before Riku walks up to the pairing with a slight smile on his face. "And what about you, sunshine?" Sora asks, goading Riku to say something to him.

Riku then punches Sora on the shoulder, although lightly enough for him to notice that it was just a joking hit. After all, Riku has fought alongside Sora. He knows how much he needs in order for him to get him to squeal. "Watch yourself," he says with a small laugh. "And please don't make me have to come out there and save you. I might just not want to."

Sora lets out a small sigh, although he knows that Riku is joking about that last part. Riku will always want to save him; he always has, after all. Sora then looks to Kairi and then to Riku, remembering that he always has a home here, before he thinks, _'Home is where no matter what happens, someone or something is always waiting for you. Home is where you might dislike the place, but you come and stay for the people. Home is where you belong; it's just a feeling in my heart. And that's all I need.'_ He then puts a wide smile on his face before he says, "We're connected, always." Riku and Kairi both inaudibly agree by just simply nodding his head. So, Sora looks over to the side of the pier and eyes the gummi ship, noticing that Donald and Goofy are resting inside, waiting for him. Knowing Donald, his impatience has probably already reached its limit and Sora, knowing that, lets out a small laugh. He then prepares himself to jump down from the pier onto the sand below, before glancing back to Riku and Kairi one more time. He flashes the best smile that he can to his two best friends.

"So, I'm off."

---

I am hoping that you enjoyed the fanfic, because this was a pleasure for me to write. I hope that none of the characters seem to be too OOC for you and I am always looking for constructive criticism about my writing, my characters, or my plot development. Yes, yes, I am telling you to possibly review my work, as it would be nice for me if you did. If you enjoyed it, then say you did and what you liked about it. If you didn't, say what I did wrong or what I didn't do to make the experience more enjoyable for you. I'm not trying to dictate what you should write in the reviews or anything… But, if I'm told what I'm doing wrong, then I'll try to reform my writing so I can write to the satisfaction of the reader.

Thank you for reading the fanfic, and thanks even more in advance for people who will review this work. Bye!


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